Command Comfort Blog : Archive for December, 2013

The East Coast has their own traditions for New Year’s Eve, notably the dropping of the ball in Times Square to signal the beginning of the New Year. We have our own traditions here on the West Coast, and with 2014 almost upon us, we thought we’d take a closer look at one of the biggest: the Tournament of Roses Parade.

The Parade is held every year on New Year’s Day, save when January 1 falls on a Sunday (in which case it is held on the 2nd). Tradition holds that they don’t host it on a Sunday in exchange for God preventing rain on the parade, though it has actually rained ten times since the first parade. It all began in 1890, when members of the Pasadena Valley Hunt club organized and staged it on Colorado Boulevard. Their parade consisted of horse carts covered with flowers, followed by a series of athletic events (including races and polo matches). Football was first added in 1902, when Michigan beat Stanford by a score of 49-0. The football tradition was dropped for a few years, but came back in 1916 for good. The game has traditionally featured the champions of the Big 10 and Pac 10 Conferences, though teams from different conferences have appeared from time to time.

As for the parade itself, it soon added motorized floats, marching bands and equestrian units to its array of features. A “Rose Queen” is chosen every year from the ranks of Pasadena girls ages 17 through 21, along with six princesses to serve as her court. 2014’s Rose Queen is high school student Ana Marie Acosta. A Grand Marshall is chosen every year as well, and has previously included such varied luminaries as Walt Disney, John Wayne, Dwight Eisenhower, Hank Aaron, George Lucas, Charles M. Schulz, Kermit the Frog, and Fred Rogers. The Grand Marshall for 2014 will be legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully.

Wherever you are and however you choose to celebrate New Year’s Day, we here at Command A/C wish you nothing but the very best. May 2014 bring you all good things, and may your New Year’s celebrations – in whatever form they take – be happy, safe and fun for your entire family. Happy New Year!

December is a time of celebrations across the globe, despite the cold weather that affects much of the countries in the Northern Hemisphere. In fact, the cold weather is one of the reasons that it is so important for people to embrace celebrations of light, color, food, and warm drinks—what better way to cheer up during a time of short days and low temperatures?

There is another reason to feel joy at the end of December, regardless of your religion or culture: an astronomical event called winter solstice.

Four astronomical markers divide the seasons on planet Earth: two solstices and two equinoxes. Equinox (a combination of the Latin words for “equal” and for “night”) is the point in Earth’s orbit when its axis is parallel to the Sun. Solstice (from the Latin words for “sun” and “to stand still”) is the point in orbit where the Earth’s axial tilt points toward the Sun. During the equinoxes, which occur at the start of spring (vernal equinox) and fall (autumnal equinox), the periods of day and night are the same length. During the solstices, which occur at the start of summer (June solstice) and winter (winter solstice), either day or night is at its longest period. June solstice is the longest day of the year; winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year.

Occurring on the 20th or the 21st of the month (this year it falls on the 21st), winter solstice marks the official beginning of winter, but also the point at which the days start to grow longer once more. The sun, which has dropped lower in the sky since the June solstice (June 20-21) and reaches its lowest point above the horizon on noon on winter solstice, once again begins to rise.

From the earliest human prehistory, people have recognized the winter solstice as an important event in their lives. When winter survival was difficult for early human societies, the sight of the sun beginning to rise in the sky once more was a symbol of hope and a reason to celebrate.

(All of the above applies to the Northern Hemisphere of Earth. The equinoxes and solstices flip in the Southern Hemisphere. For example, in Australia, Christmas is a summer holiday.)

However you commemorate and observe this time of year, we hope you and your family have a joyful and safe season!

When you reside in a beautiful beach community that often feels like a vacation resort, properly heating your home may lay far from your thoughts most of the year. Even now, when Orange County is experiencing a cold snap (well, cold for us) and we have our heaters on, the idea of providing maintenance for a heater might seem a touch like overdoing it.

However, heating maintenance is necessary for you to get the most out of the heating system in your home. Because your heater sees less use during the year, you have fewer opportunities to detect problems with it, and are therefore likely to end up with an unpleasant surprise when a time comes when you really need it. You should schedule regular heating service in Newport Beach, CA to maintain your heater even though the sunny weather wants to trick you into forgetting about it.

Command A/C can provide you with thorough heating maintenance, and here are the reasons we recommend it:

Catch repair needs before they become serious repair needs

As mentioned above, you don’t have many opportunities to notice problems starting in your heater, and that can mean malfunctions striking with little warning. As your heater sits unused during long stretches of the year, it can start to develop dust and dirt that will interfere with its operation. Maintenance will catch where problems are emerging, and take care of small repairs before they turn into larger repairs that threaten to shut down your heater.

Take control of your energy bill

If you let your heater go year after year without a check-up, tune-up, or cleaning, it will begin to work inefficiently. This will appear on your energy bill as gradually escalating prices. Regular maintenance will rein in those bills by keeping your heater in top shape.

Prolong your heater’s life

You wouldn’t want to have your heater fail on you after only a few years of service—but it will likely turn out that way if you ignore its maintenance needs. The best way to have your heater meet or exceed its manufacturer’s estimated lifespan is to have it receive regular care. Having a full replacement is expensive, so make sure you only need to get one after your current heater has given you all it can give.

Command A/C has the Ultimate Service Club to provide you with maintenance and savings. When you sign our Ultimate Service Agreement, you’ll receive 2 precision tune-ups a year (one for your air conditioner—you know that’s important!), preferred service, and a 15% discount on all repairs. Don’t wait for repairs to arrive: call Command A/C for heating service in Newport Beach, CA today.

All of the top HVAC contractors offer a regular maintenance program to take care of your heating system (as well as your air conditioning). If you enroll in one of these programs, you’ll receive a routine visit each year for your heater, which will provide it with an inspection, necessary cleaning, and a general tune-up.

Some homeowners feel a bit leery about enrolling in these programs because they may not understand how necessary they are for maintaining a heater’s efficiency. Having routine heating service in Huntington Beach will save you a great deal of money in the long run, as we’ll explain in this post.

Command A/C serves the Huntington Beach area with quality heating repair and maintenance, and we offer an excellent regular maintenance service through our Ultimate Service Club. Call us to get started today with efficient heating in your home.

How routine service will help your heater work more efficiently

Reduces wear and tear: During a maintenance visit, a technician will spot any parts of your heater that have started to wear down from age, such as cracked fan belts and straining compressors. Repairing or replacing these parts will prevent your heater from overworking, which will make it more efficient.

Wards off malfunctions: If your heater suffers from a malfunction, you might not notice it at first—but the problem will start to impair your heating system’s normal operation. Routine maintenance will catch impending needs for repairs and take care of them before they damage your heater’s operation.

Keeps your heater clean: A dusty, dirty heater will need to work harder. Maintenance will locate places (such as a dirty burner unit or a clogged air filter) where cleaning is necessary to return the heater to its maximum efficiency.

In addition to keeping your heater working its most efficient, routine maintenance will prevent surprise breakdowns and give your heater a longer life. You will save money on repairs, heating bills, and the steep cost of an early replacement system.

Join the Ultimate Service Club at Command A/C

At Command A/C, we offer more than regular maintenance. Our Ultimate Service Club provides you two tune-ups a year, a 15% discount on all service repairs, priority service… and if you are not completely satisfied, you can cancel at any time and receive a 100% refund on the fees.

Your heater just broke down! Aren’t you glad you live in Long Beach, CA? The wait for the repair technicians won’t feel quite so miserable than if you lived in Minneapolis, MN or Pierre, South Dakota. But yes, it’s still a nuisance when a heater breaks down and you need to call for repairs (or, in some cases, even get a full replacement).

You can avoid heating system breakdowns in the future with a bit of knowledge about why your heater just stopped working. Here are some of the reasons your heater probably broke down. (Although, before you start reading them, you should really contact a Long Beach, CA heating repair company like Command A/C and get those repairs scheduled. We can help you out with our superb repair services.)

Here are some reasons your heater might have broken down:

It’s too old

If your heater has met or exceeded its manufacturer’s estimated lifetime, then it is probably too worn down to run anymore. It’s excellent that it got this far—but it may be time for a replacement.

You’ve left a malfunction go too long without repairs

Sometimes it is easier to ignore a malfunction than to deal with it. Maybe the problem will just go away. But that’s rarely the case, especially with complex mechanical devices. If you’ve heard strange noises from your furnace cabinet or heat pump, noticed uneven heating, or detected odd smells from the vents, but didn’t call for inspection and repairs, then the problem probably grew until it reached this point of shutdown. Always call for prompt repairs whenever you sense anything wrong.

It hasn’t received maintenance in a long time

This is a big one: heating systems require a yearly inspection and tune-up to make sure they are running properly and aren’t developing serious repair requirements. They’re no different than cars this way. If you let your heater go for a few years without regular preventive maintenance, the wear and tear will almost certainly cause it to malfunction and stop working. Fortunately, it’s never too late to start with maintenance. Once you’ve got this repair done, sign up for a maintenance program with a local HVAC company.

Even though you live in a warm climate, you still need a heater on those cold nights and occasional cold days. Don’t let your needs for heating repair service in Long Beach, CA go without attention. Contact Command A/C before you reach the breakdown stage. Sign up for our Ultimate Service club to receive regular maintenance as well as other benefits, like a 15% discount on service repairs.